Case Study - New Writing North, Newcastle City Council, Heaton Manor School, Feeder Primary Schools
Sector: Education & Training
Developing creativity in teachers through writing
Due to curriculum change, which placed more emphasis on creative opportunity for pupils , schools were expected to get young people using their imaginations.
This required teachers to learn a range of new skills around creativity, very quickly. Teachers were keen to use creative writing across the curriculum in flexible ways, but had not been taught the necessary skills. There was a confidence gap.
The attainment level in English at level 5 (Key Stage 3) in Newcastle is below the national average and teachers were also keen to find ways to address this.
Developing their skills, to develop the children’s
A group of experts from the University worked closely with English advisers, the regional culture and creativity adviser and a literacy consultant to develop a practice-based course to raise the confidence of teachers in the area of creative writing. The initial cohort of 13 learners came from eight schools in the Newcastle area.
The course introduced two sessions each on drama, poetry and prose, focused on developing the teachers’ own skills in creative writing rather than simply giving them exercises designed to take back to the classroom.
Anna Disley of New Writing North is convinced that an increased level of teacher confidence pays off in the classroom and that this kind of practice-based course not only develops useful skills and techniques but leads to a more creative mindset.
Impact
Teachers fed back that, not only were their own skills enhanced, but that children were also more motivated and engaged.
- 'I think in some of my previous teaching I have expected children to think about too much at once. I am going to try to generate ideas first, then work on verse.'
- 'It’s made me look at something that I was taking for granted and question it. It’s useful questioning, because it gets to the heart of it – what should we be teaching and not teaching, and more importantly why?'
- 'The sessions were inspirational. It’s not just that I enjoyed them, they made me think in new ways. I know that I will be able to use this with pupils.'
The success of the course is leading to new developments with Professional Development Partnerships being put in to place. These partnerships involve writers being assigned to schools and working alongside teachers who have taken the course in order to support the rolling out of ideas and techniques from the course in the classroom, maintaining those increased confidence levels for teachers and allowing them to enhance the skills, enjoyment and attainment levels of their pupils.
Further information:
Course specific
- Professor Linda Anderson, linda.anderson@ncl.ac.uk
- Telephone: +44 (0)191 222 8059
General enquiries
- Mr Christopher Hoy, christopher.hoy@ncl.ac.uk
- Teaching and Learning Awards Officer
- Research & Enterprise Services
- Telephone: +44 (0) 191 222 5886
View our PDF brochure Developing skills to promote creative writing in schools (PDF: 735KB) for the full case study.